As of 1997[update] the school is governed by a board of directors made of four parents. In 1997 Cristina M. Ortega of the Miami Herald described the school as "part school, part social club", citing how parents were on the classroom premises while their children were instructed.[4]
History
By January 1983, the Japanese community in the Miami area, including Broward County, sought to establish a weekend Japanese school. The expected number of children from Broward County was 20-25. The Florida Committee for the Establishment of a Japanese Language School formed to hammer out how to create a hoshuko. The initial plan was to create such a school in Broward County. Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale was a proposed location.[5] In February 1983 the plan was instead to open the school at David Fairchild Elementary School,[6] which is in an unincorporated area of the county.[7]
Originally established in April 1983,[8]Showa 58,[9] it was called the Florida Nihongo Gakko,[10] with the official name Florida Japanese Language School[11] (フロリダ日本語補習校 Furorida Nihongo Hoshūkō).[9] Its initial enrollment was 40.[12]
In 1986, it was renamed Miami Hoshu Jugyo Ko (マイアミ補習授業校), then received its current name in 1990 (Heisei 2). By 1993 (Heisei 5), it was holding classes in a rented facility,[9] in the Kendall United Methodist Church,[4] now in Pinecrest but formerly in the Kendallcensus-designated place as of 1990.[13]
In 1993, the Florida Nihongo Gakko had a campus in Coral Gables, with 23 students.[14] In 1996, it was at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science on Virginia Key in Miami.[4][9] The University of Miami was willing to allow the hoshuko to hold classes there as the building did not have weekend activity. When at Rosenstiel, the hoshuko used ten classrooms, a library, and a cafeteria facility. By 1997 the school established branch classes in Boca Raton.[4]
By 2002, its classes moved to their current location in Westchester.[9]
In 2005, the hoshuko had students from Boca Raton and Weston.[15]
^Rodriguez, Anne (1983-02-03). "Japanese families plan school to save culture". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 7. - Clipping from Newspapers.com. This article mentions the same committee as "Japanese seek own school" so this is the same school.
^"Home". David Fairchild Elementary School. Retrieved 2022-02-27. Address: 5757 SW 45TH STREET, MIAMI, FL 33155 - The school is not in the Miami city limits.
^Rodriguez, Anne (1983-04-24). "The Japanese alphabet". The Miami Herald. p. 30. - Clipping from Newspapers.com. As this is at David Fairchild Elementary this is the same school.
^"East meets West Dade at Fairchild festival". The Miami News. Miami, Florida. 1983-05-20. p. 1B. - Clipping from Newspapers.com. It mentions the same Fairchild School.
2001: "Map & Location". Kendall United Methodist Church. 2001-04-06. Archived from the original on 2001-04-06. Retrieved 2022-02-25. 7600 SW 104th Street Miami, FL 33156
